France says NASCAR has had discussions with its TV partners about start times

NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France yesterday said that he would "like to see more primetime races, that series officials want to find ways to make winning more valuable and he's looking forward to the No. 3 returning to the Sprint Cup Series this season," according to Dustin Long of MRN.com. France, while appearing on MRN's "NASCAR Live," said that there have been "discussions with the TV networks about start times." France: "If anything, we're trying to go a little bit later. We're, obviously, trying to get more prime-time events and be in the widest possible audience that's available on television, although I certainly understand that creates some hardships as well with people trying to get back." France last month said that he "wanted to find ways to incentivize winning," and he "mentioned that notion again" yesterday. France: "We are not satisfied that we have the exact balance we want with winning, consistency, points, running for a championship." Meanwhile, he said of the late Dale Earnhardt's No. 3 returning to the Sprint Cup Series this year with Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon, "I wondered when it was going to happen, if it was going to happen. I think what Richard has said [is] he wanted to make sure it was the right circumstance and not bring it back because he could but because it was right and it felt right. I think they way they've done it, keeping it in the family, it's a really neat thing." Finally, France addressed Dodge's departure from the sport as a manufacturer and said, "We would love for them to take another look. I think at some point they will. There's some other manufacturers that are always looking" (MRN.com, 1/7).